Grand Coulee Dam ~ Hydroelectric Energy 5:35 AM Posted by Energetic Grand Coulee Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the largest electric power-producing facility and the largest concrete structure in the United States. It is the fifth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, as of the year 2008. The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the completion of the dam. The foundation was built by the MWAK Company, a joint effort of several contractors united for this purpose. Consolidated Builders Incorporated, including industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, completed the dam. The United States Bureau of Reclamation with then chief designing engineer, John L. Savage supervised the design and construction and the Bureau continues to operate the dam today. Folk singer Woody Guthrie was commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs about the Columbia Basin Project; the songs Roll On Columbia and Grand Coulee Dam are part of that series. The Grand Coulee Dam is almost a mile long at 5223 feet (1586 m).

The spillway is 1,650 feet (503 m) wide. At 550 feet (168 m), it is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza; all the pyramids at Giza could fit within the total area of its base. Its hydraulic height of 380 feet (115 m) is more than twice that of Niagara Falls. There is enough concrete to build a four-foot wide, four-inch deep sidewalk twice around the equator. Grand Coulee Dam 47°57.4′N 118°59′W Background The dam was built under the auspices of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Columbia Basin Project for irrigation of desert areas of the Pacific Northwest and for the production of electricity. Proposals for the dam would stir significant controversy as it evolved from a small to large scale project. A Spokane group wanted a safer 134-mile (216 km) gravity flow canal from the Pend Oreille River at Albeni Falls.

And the original low dam design would have been useful for regulating navigation flows, and for hydroelectric power, but it would have been too far below the top of the canyon to make it useful for irrigation of the fertile loess soil of the basin. The controversy over which project should go forward was a central issue of Washington state politics in the 1920s. By the 1930s, after thirteen years of debate and several studies, and with the Depression in full swing, Roosevelt was eager for large public works. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the dam as a Public Works Administration project, and Congress appropriated funding for the low dam. Two years later, the Bureau of Reclamation switched plans from a low 200-300 ft. dam to one of around 500 ft. making it far more expensive, and technically challenging. Construction Excavation of the site began on July 16, 1933. The initial construction plan was for a shorter dam with one partial completed powerhouse with available expansion from 6 units to 18.

During construction, the design was changed to the higher specification in order to employ more people, generate more electricity, and to enlarge the irrigation capacity. Construction was completed in January 1942, soon after the U.S. entered World War II. A total of 77 men died. Its height is 1330 (about 405.5 meters) feet above sea level at the roadway, the reservoir height is measured when water reaches the top of the drumgates which is 1290 feet (about 393 meters) above sea level (10 feet (about 3 meters) below the roadway). The dam design was supervised by John L. Savage with Frank A. Banks as chief construction engineer. For several years it was the largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world. The primary goal of irrigation was postponed as the wartime need for electricity increased. Aluminum smelting was vital to the war effort, and to airplane construction in particular. The electricity was also used to power plutonium production reactors and reprocessing facilities at the Hanford Site, which was part of the then top-secret Manhattan Project. The dam was instrumental in the industrial development of the Pacific Northwest.

Irrigation The original goal of irrigation resumed after the World War II. A water distribution network was built using the adjacent Grand Coulee to hold the main reservoir now known as Banks Lake. Additional dams, siphons, and canals were constructed, creating a vast irrigation supply network called the Columbia Basin Project. Irrigation began in 1951. Water is pumped up 280 feet (85 m) from Lake Roosevelt to Banks Lake using twelve 14-foot-wide pipes. Pumped-storage hydroelectricity capability was incorporated into the final six pumps. During low-demand periods, water is pumped into Banks Lake, to be used later during high-demand periods. Water flow is reversed, powering generators as it falls back into Lake Roosevelt. This function is used regularly when irrigation water demand is low and electricity demand is high. Expansion Between 1966 and 1974 the dam was expanded to add the Third powerhouse. This involved demolishing the northeast side of the dam and building a new fore-bay section. The addition made the dam more than a mile long and accommodated six new generators. Original designs for the powerhouse had twelve smaller units but was changed to incorporate the largest units available.

The new turbines and generators, three 600 MW and three 805 MW units, are today nearly the largest ever produced. The expansion was completed in the early eighties and made the Grand Coulee Dam once again one of the largest hydroelectric producers in the world. By 1973, the pumped-storage hydroelectricity plant was completed. This included 6 pumps and 6 pump-generators. The six pump-generators added an additional 314 MW capacity to the dam. In May 2009, the pump-generating plant was renamed the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Power Plant after John W. Keys III, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's commissioner from 2001 to 2006. The expansion of the dam also required the installation of over 20 km of oil-cooled cables. These 6-inch cables, made in Japan by Sumitomo Electric, are rated to a maximum potential of 525 kV and are connected to powerful pumps which circulate the oil through the cables during normal operation.

Environmental and cultural consequences The dam had severe negative consequences for the local Native American tribes whose traditional way of life revolved around salmon as well as for the original shrub steppe habitat of the area. Grand Coulee Dam permanently blocks fish migration (barring construction of a fish ladder)[20] removing over a thousand miles of spawning grounds. By largely eliminating anadromous fish above the Okanogan River, the Grand Coulee Dam also set the stage for the subsequent decision not to provide for fish passage at Chief Joseph Dam (built in 1953). Chinook, Steelhead, Sockeye and Coho salmon (as well as other important species including Lamprey) are now unable to spawn in the reaches of the Upper Columbia Basin. The extinction of the spawning grounds upstream from the dam has prevented the Spokane and other tribes from holding the first salmon ceremony since 1940. Grand Coulee Dam flooded over 21,000 acres (85 km²) of prime bottom land where Native Americans had been living and hunting for thousands of years, forcing the relocation of settlements and graveyards. Kettle Falls, once a primary Native American fishing grounds, was inundated.

The average catch went from a historical average of over 600,000 salmon a year to nothing. In one study, the Army Corps of Engineers estimated the annual loss was over a million fish. The town of Kettle Falls, Washington was relocated. The Columbia Basin Project has affected habitat ranges for species such as whitetail and mule deer, pygmy rabbits and burrowing owls resulting in decreased populations, however, it has created new habitat in the form of wetlands, reservoirs, and riparian corridors. The environmental impact of the dam effectively ended the traditional way of life of the native inhabitants. The government eventually compensated the Colville Indians in the 1990s with a lump settlement of approximately $52 million, plus annual payments of approximately $15 million.

Statistics Largest concrete dam and concrete structure in North America with 11,975,521 yd³ (9,155,942 m³) used Total length of dam: 5,223 ft (1,592 m) Length of main dam: 3,867 ft (1,178 m) Length of forebay dam: 1,170 ft (356 m) Length of Wing Dam: 186 ft (56 m) Hydraulic height: 380 ft (116 m) Height of dam from bedrock: 550 ft (168 m) Height above original streambed: 401 ft (122 m) Reservoir Lake Roosevelt stretches for 151 mi (243 km) Average release: 110,000 ft³/s (3,100 m³/s) 4 power plants, 33 generators Installed generating nameplate capacity: 6809 MW Annual energy production: 25 TWh in 2007[26] (varies with annual river flow) Capacity factor: 4

1.9% in 2007 In 2007, Grand Coulee generated the second-most energy among US power facilities, after the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant at 26.78 TWh.

Palo Verde has a lower nameplate capacity but operates at a higher capacity factor, giving it slightly more annual output. This entry was posted on October 4, 2009 at 12:14 pm, and is filed under Largest Hydro-Electric Power Plants in US . Follow any responses to this post through RSS . You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site. Grand Coulee Dam | Pothi.com Grand Coulee Dam Price: Rs.3,086.00 + shipping Description of "Grand Coulee Dam" Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Grand Coulee Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the largest electric power-producing facility and the largest concrete structure in the United States. It is the fifth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, as of the year 2008. The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the completion of the dam. The foundation was built by the MWAK Company, a joint effort of several contractors united for this purpose.

Consolidated Builders Incorporated, including industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, completed the dam. The United States Bureau of Reclamation with then chief designing engineer, John L. Savage supervised the design and construction and the Bureau continues to operate the dam today. Folk singer Woody Guthrie was commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs about the Columbia Basin Project; the songs Roll On Columbia and Grand Coulee Dam are part of that series. Book Details Grand Coulee Dam: "Powering One Corner of the World" 1987 US Bureau of Reclamation - YouTube Grand Coulee Dam: "Powering One Corner of the World" 1987 US Bureau of Reclamation Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Apr 17, 2015 more at "The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River has brought many benefits to the people of the West Coast.

This program shows the operation of the dam and how water and power is supplied to the West Coast." Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States and one of the largest concrete structures in the world. The proposal to build the dam was the focus of a bitter debate during the 1920s between two groups. One wanted to irrigate the ancient Grand Coulee with a gravity canal and the other supported a high dam and pumping scheme.

Dam supporters won in 1933, but for fiscal reasons the initial design was for a "low dam" 290 ft (88 m) high which would generate electricity, but not support irrigation. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and a consortium of three companies called MWAK (Mason-Walsh-Atkinson Kier Company) began construction that year. After visiting the construction site in August 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began endorsing the "high dam" design which, at 550 ft (168 m) high, would provide enough electricity to pump water to irrigate the Columbia Basin. The high dam was approved by Congress in 1935 and completed in 1942; the first water over-topped its spillway on June 1 of that year. Power from the dam fueled the growing industries of the Northwest United States during World War II. Between 1967 and 1974, the Third Powerplant was constructed. The decision to construct the additional facility was influenced by growing energy demand, regulated river flows stipulated in the Columbia River Treaty with Canada and competition with the Soviet Union.

Through a series of upgrades and the installation of pump-generators, the dam now supplies four power stations with an installed capacity of 6,809 MW. As the center-piece of the Columbia Basin Project, the dam's reservoir supplies water for the irrigation of 671,000 acres (2,700 km2). The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the authorization and completion of the dam. Creation of the reservoir forced the relocation of over 3,000 people, including Native Americans whose ancestral lands were partially flooded. The dam has also blocked the migration of salmon and other fish upstream to spawn... The Grand Coulee is an ancient river bed on the Columbia Plateau created during the Pliocene Epoch (Calabrian) by retreating glaciers and floods... President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took office in March, 1933, supported the dam because of its irrigation potential and the power it would provide, but he was uneasy with its $450 million price tag.

For this reason, he supported a 290 ft (88 m) "low dam" instead of the 550 ft (168 m) "high dam". He provided $63 million in federal funding, while Washington State provided $377,000... On August 4, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the construction site and was impressed by the project and its purpose... Soon after his visit, Reclamation was allowed to proceed with the high dam plan... Workers building the dam received an average of 80¢ an hour; the payroll for the dam was among the largest in the nation. The workers were mainly pulled from Grant, Lincoln, Douglas, and Okanogan counties and women were allowed to work only in the dorms and the cookhouse. Around 8,000 people worked on the project, and Frank A. Banks served as the chief construction engineer... With the onset of World War II, power generation was given priority over irrigation. In 1943, Congress authorized the Columbia Basin Project and the Bureau of Reclamation began construction of irrigation facilities in 1948.

Directly to the west and above the Grand Coulee Dam, the North Dam was constructed. This dam, along with the Dry Falls Dam to the south, enclosed and created Banks Lake, which covered the northern 27 mi (43 km) of the Grand Coulee. Additional dams, such as the Pinto and O'Sullivan Dams, were constructed alongside siphons and canals, creating a vast irrigation supply network called the Columbia Basin Project. Irrigation began between 1951 and 1953 as six of the 12 pumps were installed and Banks Lake was filled... Category Building Collector: (Those) Dam Replicas Monday, October 5, 2009 (Those) Dam Replicas The Hover and Bolder Dam souvenirs are replicas of the same dam, the name just changed a few times. Originally named Boulder Dam from 1930 to 1931, It was renamed Hoover Dam during the period of Feb. 1931 to May 1933. When Hoover lost his re-election, the dam returned to be called Boulder Dam during the Roosevelt era.

President Truman returned it to the name Hover in 1947 to honor the president who originated the building (Hoover). This is another example of the souvenir buildings which we can date, by the named, even when no date is printed on it. Some Hover and Bolder Dam replicas are souvenirs while others are ashtrays. The real Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between Arizona and Nevada. When completed in 1936, it was both the world's largest electric-power gene rating station and the world's largest concrete structure. It was surpassed in both these respects by the Grand Coulee Dam in 1945. This dam, located 30 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its construction, first as the Secretary of Commerce and then later as the President of the United States. Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1936. Lake Mead is the reservoir created by the dam, named after Elwood Mead, who oversaw the construction of the dam.

The initial plans for the finished facade of both the dam and the power plant consisted of a simple, unadorned wall of concrete topped with a Gothic-inspired balustrade and a powerhouse that looked like little more than an industrial warehouse.This initial design was criticized by many as being too plain and unremarkable for a project of such immense scale, so Los Angeles-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann was brought in to redesign the exteriors. Kaufmann greatly streamlined the buildings, and applied an elegant Art Deco style to the entire project, with sculptured turrets rising seamlessly from the dam face and clock faces on the intake towers set for the time in Nevada and Arizona, in the Pacific Standard Time Zone or Pacific Daylight Time Zone and Mountain Standard Time Zone time zones respectively (although because Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, the two clocks show the same time during the half of the year around the northern summer). The Hover Dam offers tours of the factility . Souvenir replicas of the (Boulder) Hover Dam include metal paperweights, an ashtray and a set of ceramic salt & pepper shakers. Less-common dam replicas include the Grand Coulee Dam.

While not as stylishly-designed as the Hoover Dam, the Grand Coulee Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. In the United States, it is the largest electric power producing facility and the largest concrete structure It is also the seventh largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, as of the year 2008. The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the completion of the dam. Folk singer Woody Guthrie was commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs about the Columbia Basin Project the songs Roll On Columbia and Grand Coulee Dam are part of that series.The Grand Coulee Dam is almost a mile long at 5223 feet (1586 m). The spillway is 1,650 feet (503 m) wide. At 550 feet (168 m), it is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza and all the pyramids at Giza could fit within its base. Its hydraulic height of 380 feet (115 m) is more than twice that of Niagara Falls.

The visitor center contains many historical photos, geological samples, turbine and dam models, and a well used theater. Since May 1989, on summer evenings, The laser light show at Grand Coulee Dam is projected onto the dam's wall. The show includes full-size images of battleships and the Statue of Liberty, as well as some environmental comments. Tours of the new Third Powerhouse are available to the public but have been scaled back for security reasons. Visitors are able to ride a glass elevator, on top of the forebay penstocks, 400 feet down to view the generators. Do you know of other dam souvenirs? Posted by Grand Coulee Dam : Map (The Full Wiki) . In the United States , it is the largest electric power -producing facility and the largest concrete structure. It is the fifth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, as of the year 2008. The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake , named after the United States President who presided over the completion of the dam. The foundation was built by the MWAK Company, a joint effort of several contractors united for this purpose. Consolidated Builders Incorporated, including industrialist Henry J.

Kaiser , completed the dam. The United States Bureau of Reclamation supervised the contractors and operates the dam. Folk singer Woody Guthrie was commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs about the Columbia Basin Project; the songs Roll On Columbia and Grand Coulee Dam are part of that series. The Grand Coulee Dam is almost a mile long at 5223 feet (1586 m). The spillway is 1,650 feet (503 m) wide. At 550 feet (168 m), it is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza ; all the pyramids at Giza could fit within its base. Its hydraulic height of 380 feet (115 m) is more than twice that of Niagara Falls . There is enough concrete to build a four-foot wide, four-inch deep sidewalk twice around the equator. Background The dam was built under the auspices of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Columbia Basin Project for irrigation of desert areas of the Pacific Northwest and for the production of electricity . Central Washington's Columbia Basin was a slightly over-ambitious candidate for a dam.

The Columbia was by far the largest river anyone had ever considered damming. A Spokane group wanted a safer 134-mile (216 km) gravity flow canal from the Pend Oreille River at Albeni Falls. And the original low dam design would have have been useful for regulating navigation flows, and for hydroelectic power, but it would have been too far below the top of the canyon to make it useful for irrigation of the fertile loess soil of the basin. The controversy over which project should go forward was a central issue of Washington state politics in the 1920s. By the 1930s, after thirteen years of debate and several studies, and with the Depression in full swing, Roosevelt was eager for large public works. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the dam as a Public Works Administration project, and Congress appropriated funding for the low dam. Two years later, the authorization was changed from the low dam to the far more expensive, and technically challenging, high dam of today. Construction Excavation of the site began on July 16, 1933.

The initial construction plan was for a shorter dam with one partial completed powerhouse with available expansion from 6 units to 18. During construction, the design was changed to the higher specification in order to employ more people, generate more electricity, and to enlarge the irrigation capacity. Construction was completed in January 1942, soon after the U.S. entered WWII . A total of 77 men died. Its height is 1330 (about 405.5 meters) feet above sea level at the roadway, the reservoir height is measured when water reaches the top of the drumgates which is 1290 feet (about 393 meters) above sea level (10 feet (about 3 meters) below the roadway). The dam was designed by John L. Savage with Frank A. Banks as chief construction engineer. For several years it was the largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world. The primary goal of irrigation was postponed as the wartime need for electricity increased. Aluminum smelting was vital to the war effort, and to airplane construction in particular.

The electricity was also used to power plutonium production reactors and reprocessing facilities at the Hanford Site , which was part of the then top-secret Manhattan Project . The dam was instrumental in the industrial development of the Pacific Northwest . Irrigation The original goal of irrigation resumed after the war. A water distribution network was built using the adjacent Grand Coulee to hold the main reservoir now known as Banks Lake . Additional dams, siphons, and canals were constructed, creating a vast irrigation supply network called the Columbia Basin Project . Irrigation began in 1951. Water is pumped up 280 feet (85 m) from Lake Roosevelt to Banks Lake using twelve 14-foot-wide pipes. Pumped-storage hydroelectricity capability was incorporated into the final six pumps. During low-demand periods, water is pumped into Banks Lake, to be used later during high-demand periods. Water flow is reversed, powering generators as it falls back into Lake Roosevelt. This function is used regularly when irrigation water demand is low and electricity demand is high. Expansion Between 1966 and 1974 the dam was expanded to add the Third Powerhouse. This involved demolishing the northeast side of the dam and building a new forebay section.

The addition made the dam more than a mile long and accommodated six new generators. Original designs for the powerhouse had twelve smaller units but was changed to incorporate the largest units available. The new turbines and generators, three 600 MW and three 805 MW units, are today nearly the largest ever produced. The expansion was completed in the early eighties and made the Grand Coulee Dam once again one of the largest hydroelectric producers in the world. The expansion of the dam also required the installation of over 20 km of oil-cooled cables. These 6" cables, made in Japan by Sumitomo Electric , are rated to a maximum potential of 525 kV and are connected to powerful pumps which circulate the oil through the cables during normal operation. Environmental and cultural consequences The dam had severe negative consequences for the local Native American tribes whose traditional way of life revolved around salmon as well as for the original shrub steppe habitat of the area. Grand Coulee Dam permanently blocks fish migration (barring construction of a fish ladder ) removing over a thousand miles of spawning grounds.

By largely eliminating anadromous fish above the Okanogan River, the Grand Coulee Dam also set the stage for the subsequent decision not to provide for fish passage at Chief Joseph Dam (built in 1953). Chinook, Steelhead, Sockeye and Coho salmon (as well as other important species including Lamprey) are now unable to spawn in the reaches of the Upper Columbia Basin. The extinction of the spawning grounds upstream from the dam has prevented the Spokane and other tribes from holding the first salmon ceremony since 1940. Grand Coulee Dam flooded over 21,000 acres (85 km²) of prime bottom land where Native Americans had been living and hunting for thousands of years, forcing the relocation of settlements and graveyards. Kettle Falls , once a primary Native American fishing grounds, was inundated. The average catch went from a historical average of over 600,000 salmon a year to nothing. In one study, the Army Corps of Engineers estimated the annual loss was over a million fish. The town of Kettle Falls, Washington was relocated.

The project area drastically affected habitat ranges for species such as whitetail and mule deer, pygmy rabbits and burrowing owls. The environmental impact of the dam effectively ended the traditional way of life of the native inhabitants. The government eventually compensated the Colville Indians in the 1990s with a lump settlement of approximately $52 million, plus annual payments of approximately $15 million. Gallery and Banks Lake , 1999 Landsat photoFile:Grand Coulee Dam construction.jpg|Construction of the original dam. The left section would be demolished in the late sixties to make way for powerhouse #3File:Water turbine grandcoulee.jpg|One of six new Francis turbines , rated at nearly , being installed in powerhouse #3.File:Interior Powerhouse 3.JPG|The interior of powerhouse #3. Also pictured is a gantry crane , once the world's largest. Touring the dam The visitor center contains many historical photos, geological samples, turbine and dam models, and a well used theater. Since May 1989, on summer evenings, The laser light show at Grand Coulee Dam is projected onto the dam's wall.

The show includes full-size images of battleships and the Statue of Liberty , as well as some environmental comments. Tours of the new Third Powerhouse are available to the public but have been scaled back for security reasons. Visitors are able to ride a glass elevator, on top of the forebay penstocks, 400 feet down to view the generators.

Statistics Largest concrete dam and concrete structure in North America with 11,975,521 yd³ (9,155,942 m³) used Total length of dam: 5,223 ft (1,592 m) Length of main dam: 3,867 ft (1,178 m) Length of forebay dam: 1,170 ft (356 m) Length of Wing Dam: 186 ft (56 m) Hydraulic height: 380 ft (116 m) Height of dam from bedrock: 550 ft (168 m) Height above original streambed: 401 ft (122 m) Reservoir Lake Roosevelt stretches for 151 mi (243 km) Average release: 110,000 ft³/s (3,100 m³/s) 4 power plants, 33 generators The Negative Side Effects of Dams | Kim's Nature Blog The Negative Side Effects of Dams by Kim in Uncategorized For this weeks lectures and discussions Professor McLaughlin has discussed issues such as landscape artists and conservation use versus

 preservation.

I found all of these topics to be very interesting however the topic that I was most attracted to was our discussion question. I enjoyed reading about President, Theodore Roosevelt approving the construction of the O’Shaunessy Dam which sparked the Hetch Hetchy debate. I agreed with Roosevelt’s decision at first due to the fact that it was a safety option, even though it required preservation vs. conservation. In this blog entry however, I will be discussing the other examples of dam’s that negatively affected the environment and the Native American cultures surrounding it. The most well known and best example for this topic is the Grand Coulee Dam. I discovered this tragic construction and event from my women studies class this semester. The Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States and is one of the largest concrete structures in the world.

Power from the dam fueled the growing industries of the Northwest United States during World War II. Between 1967 and 1974, the Third Power plant was constructed. The decision to construct the additional facility was influenced by growing energy demand, regulated river flows stipulated in the Columbia River Treaty with Canada and competition with the Soviet Union. the dam now supplies four power stations with an installed capacity of 6,809 MW. As the center-piece of the Columbia Basin Project, the dam’s reservoir supplies water for the irrigation of 671,000 acres (2,700 km2). The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the authorization and completion of the dam. Creation of the reservoir forced the relocation of over 3,000 people, including Native Americans whose ancestral lands were partially flooded. The dam has also blocked the migration of salmon and other fish upstream to spawn. This dam is an example of how with the construction it negatively affected the environment and people. The YouTube documentary below can describe more. I chose this topic because with my discussion question I agreed with the Presidents decision to build the Dam.

I did this because if there had been more earthquakes or series of fires more people could have died and lives could have been destructed by it. I agree with John Muir points at the time that because it did set a precedent for what was built in the national park but I support the overall construction. I feel that the creation of the Coulee reservoir touched on some of the same points. For instance, there was much controversy when it was created and it took over nature. The opposite point is that this dam didn’t benefit some of its cultures such as the Native Americans and killed off wildlife. This is why I don’t support the construction of it. I feel that a Dam or any other construction on land should be built because there are no other options and people need the support of the water and electricity. Also I feel that Roosevelt and other Americans built it for the Dam in Yellowstone for the overall good and it was a safety issue that had to be constructed even though it didn’t help preserve the land and that the Coulee was pure profit.

Share this: Grand Coulee Dam | Rankly Grand Coulee Dam Ranked #208 on the list Best Dam of All Time 4.50 Structure Type: Reservoir Created: Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States and one of the largest concrete structures in the world. The proposal to build the dam was the focus of a bitter debate during the 1920s between two groups. One wanted to irrigate the ancient Grand Coulee with a gravity canal and the other supported a high dam and pumping scheme. Dam supporters won in 1933, but for fiscal reasons the initial design was for a "low dam" 290 ft (88 m) high which would generate electricity, but not support irrigation. The U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation and a consortium of three companies called MWAK (Mason-Walsh-Atkinson Kier Company) began construction that year. After visiting the construction site in August 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began endorsing the "high dam" design which, at 550 ft (168 m) high, would provide enough electricity to pump water to irrigate the Grand Coulee Dam: "Agriculture: New Farms from Grand Coulee" circa 1951 Universal Newsreel - YouTube Grand Coulee Dam: "Agriculture: New Farms from Grand Coulee" circa 1951 Universal Newsreel Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jul 29, 2013 more at Public domain film from the Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States and one of the largest concrete structures in the world. The proposal to build the dam was the focus of a bitter debate during the 1920s between two groups. One wanted to irrigate the ancient Grand Coulee with a gravity canal and the other supported a high dam and pumping scheme. Dam supporters won in 1933, but for fiscal reasons the initial design was for a "low dam" 290 ft (88 m) high which would generate electricity, but not support irrigation. The U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation and a consortium of three companies called MWAK (Mason-Walsh-Atkinson Kier Company) began construction that year. After visiting the construction site in August 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began endorsing the "high dam" design which, at 550 ft (168 m) high, would provide enough electricity to pump water to irrigate the Columbia Basin. The high dam was approved by Congress in 1935 and completed in 1942; the first water over-topped its spillway on June 1 of that year. Power from the dam fueled the growing industries of the Northwest United States during World War II. Between 1967 and 1974, the Third Powerplant was constructed. The decision to construct the additional facility was influenced by growing energy demand, regulated river flows stipulated in the Columbia River Treaty with Canada and competition with the Soviet Union. Through a series of upgrades and the installation of pump-generators, the dam now supplies four power stations with an installed capacity of 6,809 MW.

As the center-piece of the Columbia Basin Project, the dam's reservoir supplies water for the irrigation of 671,000 acres (2,700 km2). The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the authorization and completion of the dam. Creation of the reservoir forced the relocation of over 3,000 people, including Native Americans whose ancestral lands were partially flooded. The dam has also blocked the migration of salmon and other fish upstream to spawn... The Grand Coulee is an ancient river bed on the Columbia Plateau created during the Pliocene Epoch (Calabrian) by retreating glaciers and floods... An attorney from Ephrata, Washington, named William M. Clapp proposed in 1917 that the Columbia be dammed immediately below the Grand Coulee... President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took office in March, 1933, supported the dam because of its irrigation potential and the power it would provide, but he was uneasy with its $450 million price tag.

For this reason, he supported a 290 ft (88 m) "low dam" instead of the 550 ft (168 m) "high dam". He provided $63 million in federal funding, while Washington State provided $377,000... On August 4, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the construction site and was impressed by the project and its purpose... Soon after his visit, Reclamation was allowed to proceed with the high dam plan... Workers building the dam received an average of 80¢ an hour; the payroll for the dam was among the largest in the nation. The workers were mainly pulled from Grant, Lincoln, Douglas, and Okanogan counties and women were allowed to work only in the dorms and the cookhouse. Around 8,000 people worked on the project, and Frank A. Banks served as the chief construction engineer... With the onset of World War II, power generation was given priority over irrigation. In 1943, Congress authorized the Columbia Basin Project and the Bureau of Reclamation began construction of irrigation facilities in 1948.

Directly to the west and above the Grand Coulee Dam, the North Dam was constructed. This dam, along with the Dry Falls Dam to the south, enclosed and created Banks Lake, which covered the northern 27 mi (43 km) of the Grand Coulee. Additional dams, such as the Pinto and O'Sullivan Dams, were constructed alongside siphons and canals, creating a vast irrigation supply network called the Columbia Basin Project. Irrigation began between 1951 and 1953 as six of the 12 pumps were installed and Banks Lake was filled... Category

Question: The largest electric power-producing facility and the largest concrete structure in the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake was created by the construction of what dam?
Answer: Grand Coulee Dam